Over preening another bird...

[Sadie13]

Hey everyone...i feel so bad for being away!
I have been creeping the boards but everything has been good in bird land so i havent spent much time on it.

meanwhile with school winding down and summer camps and IEPs to work with i have been full swing busy mom!

But....i have been having problems with mango and opal...
since the day i brought opal home, mango has been all over her. they nap together, so into each others cages and share food. its been amazing.
mango is very protective of his cage from the other birds and opal is the only one with an all access pass to his estate.

Lately though he has been over preening her. Her crest is snipped off so now she looks like a little goffins until she raises it!
He also pulled a blood feather on her and he is just always on her. He will even grab her wing with his foot and preen her back.
So i have started distracting him when he starts and i am considering buying the bitter spray for pluckers to spray on her. but i feel bad because she doesnt seem to mind (although i know it isnt healthy) and she gets just as sad when i keep them separated. They have formed a really strong bond while keeping their love for their human flock (i love when they both sit on my lap in the evenings) but i am beginning to worry it is a toxic relationship...anyone have any experience with this? Thanks so much guys!

 

[MonicaMc]

Welcome back!


You might try reinforcing Mango each times he plays with toys or forages, too. Teach him to do something instead of nothing.

You may have to keep them separate while unsupervised, although they can still remain close together.

 

[Sadie13]

Thanks i always feel bad only asking but i know there are so many much wiser folks here that i would rather learn than try to add my 2 cents

In my honest opinion he doesn't have a lack of any type of toys, he is fully flighted and he has a playstand in every room in the house. I feel like when she is around all mango can focus on is preening her. He will stop and do a puzzle or shred a bit. but if i leave them to themselves they are together from the time i open the cages till the time i tell them night night. She will be playing or eating and he will be right there preening her.

are there toys that you have noticed seem more fun than preening your buddy? we do have a few variations of preening and shredding toys throughout the house and in his cage. Before she came he rarely wanted anything to do with preening himself let alone anyone else lol.

 

[MonicaMc]

Your issue might not be so much of the type of toys as it is getting Mango to pay more attention to toys in general instead of Opal.

I mean, you could throw every single sort of toy at Mango, and Mango will still prefer preening Opal than paying attention to those toys!


Mango is probably finding it more rewarding to preen Opal than to play with toys..... so you need to try to make it more rewarding to play with toys than it is to pay attention to Opal. You can do this by rewarding Mango (treats, attention, phrase, scritches, etc) any time you see him playing with toys! Start with Opal away from Mango (if you can - i.e. not together but when Mango would play with toys) and keep rewarding Mango for playing with the toys. Over time you can start to incorporate having Opal there with you two and still rewarding Mango for playing with toys.

 

[Sadie13]

youre awesome and amazing and this makes perfect sense! i will get in rewards with toys and hopefully it will lead to a healthier relationship for the 2

thank you so so much!

 

[MonicaMc]

Welcome!


And I do hope it is Mango over-preening Opal! Cockatoos can also over-preen themselves, including their head feathers! Too's can be too smart for their own good! (if it is Opal doing it, well, same concept! Reward, reward, reward desired behaviors!)

 

[Sadie13]

yeah we definitely made sure it was mango beak doing the damage... She rarely preens herself but she she does she is never aggressive with her feathers.
But when he is with her he is always into her and is very demanding about preening!
he holds her poor wing with his foot while he preens her back and she just nuzzles into him without a protest. starting to keep them with me at all times and rewarding him when he is playing or focusing on other things but her feathers.
thanks!

 

[MonicaMc]

Best of luck!